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Rarely does six months go by without hearing about a tragic circumstance that has befallen an individual with a young family and financial commitments. A great and positive thing which comes out of the community and social media, is that we immediately see personal and financial support offered through “go fund me” type charity pages.

As a Financial Adviser, I often wonder whether the person could have made other provisions for their family in the form of life insurance and estate planning. Although online fundraising will no doubt provide welcome short-term financial relief to the family, it would be unlikely to meet the long term financial needs. I would be even less likely to trust my family’s financial future to government support agencies.

So what is the solution?

Take out a good quality life insurance policy through a reputable insurer and speak with a solicitor in regards to completing a Will.

Many Australian’s now have automatic insurance cover through their superannuation fund which is both positive and negative. The positive, is that it gives many people a base level of cover that they wouldn’t otherwise have. The negative, is that it is often low quality insurance with exclusions and is insufficient to meet the member’s needs. The quality of insurance varies significantly from fund to fund.

Basic types of costs and expenses that life insurance can provide funds for include:

Repayment of mortgage and debt.

Funeral and estate costs.

Children’s education cost.

An ongoing income for a spouse and children.

Child care cost.

Kelly Wealth Services can assist with the following Insurance Advice:

Help you calculate how much Life Insurance is needed for your family.

Review the insurances you may already have through your superannuation funds. (This can include Life Insurance, total and Permanent Disablement and Income Protection)

Provide advice and comparisons on the quality of any existing cover -We read the fine print.

Where appropriate consider alternative insurers to meet your needs.

Consider what other insurances may be needed, such as income protection, trauma and total and permanent disablement.

Kelly Wealth Services has been shortlisted for a 2nd year for the prestigious Women in Finance Awards, partnered by National Australia Bank.

A local ‘Woman in Finance’ covering Cairns and the Far North is in the running to take out one of Australia’s top industry awards.

Kelly Wealth Services and Lainie Poon have been shortlisted as a finalist to win the “Women’s Community Programme of the Year’ category at the 2018 Women in Finance Awards for their ‘Creating Wealthy Women’ finance seminars.

Since its inaugural year in 2015, ‘Creating Wealthy Women’ now holds a firm place on the company’s seminar calendar. Encouraging women to take an active interest in their finances through education and empowerment is paramount to Lainie and the Team. Covering important finance, legal and wellbeing topics from a women’s perspective, they are highly relevant and informative and delivered in a nurturing, fun and relaxed environment.

In its second year, the Women in Finance Awards, which covers 28 categories, highlights the outstanding work of women within financial services and puts them on a national stage to support the continuing growth and development of women in the financial arena.

Lainie Poon, Lending Advisor at Kelly Wealth said she was humbled by the nomination and it was fantastic to see Cairns represented on this national stage.

“Kelly Wealth Services” recognition for its excellent contribution to the FNQ community reinforces the strength of the brand in connecting with the community and engaging with its customers,” she said.

The winners will be announced at a black-tie awards dinner on Thursday, 20 September at The Star, Sydney.

A staple for financial planning is the long term investment asset of superannuation. For most people, when the topic shifts to their superannuation at the neighbourhood BBQ they mostly reply with “my super is with… and I don’t know how much is in it” or “who is my super again?, I think I have about 3 different ones”. Great start but this act of neglect can prove hazardous to what is mostly likely going to become your largest investment asset over the course of your life.

Superannuation is a complex beast with rules and regulations that even the strongest willed individual collapse at the knees in terror trying to understand. Knee trembling fear aside, it’s important to understand your superannuation provider and where your funds are invested. For most people, often starting with a new employer, you will supply the initial tax file declaration, and your choice of super fund, to which most people let the employer choose. Having the employer choose your superannuation may not always be as advantageous as you would think. Employers must contribute to your superannuation but they aren’t there to ensure your funds are invested to the best of its ability and the end game of this means that your funds will most often get invested into the superannuation providers default fund.

Default funds are not necessarily a bad thing but default means default and default for the most part is the safe haven for the superannuation provider to aim at achieving you the average investment return measured against all other industry or employer funds. The average returns generated from these default funds isn’t the outcome you should be seeking to achieve, especially if you are quite young and have decades of prosperous employment left.

You have finished your degree or traineeship and now find you’re in your first full-time position and would like to do something sensible with your newfound income other than travel and partying. So what should you do with your financial situation?

The most common scenario we come across with young professionals is that they have the big goals and objectives to get into the property market as either a property investor or as an owner occupier. However, due to the transient nature of today’s employment market, often young clients aren’t ready to commit or settle in one particular location and commit to large debt. And to do so would mean a big impact on their lifestyle expenses and travel – which is not a popular option (and no more smashed avo). So what are the alternative investment options?